Kimberly Rivera detained
American conscientious objector taken into custody
North American Friends have reacted with disappointment and concern over the recent arrest of a leading American conscientious objector. Kimberly Rivera, who fled to Canada five years ago to avoid serving in Iraq, was arrested in the United States of America after losing her deportation case. A mother of four, she had claimed refugee status in Canada as a conscientious objector but last month was ordered to leave the country.
Many Quaker Meetings in Canada and elsewhere, as well as individual Friends, have campaigned vigorously on her behalf. Jane Orion Smith, general secretary of Canadian Friends Service Committee, thanked Friends for their witness in writing many ‘moving and powerful letters of support’ and said they ‘have given us hope and inspiration’.
Last week Kimberly Rivera voluntarily went to a border crossing in New York State, where she was taken into military custody. She faces between two and five years in prison.
Kimberly served in the Iraq war in 2006. On her return to the United States of America she said that she had become disillusioned with its cause and described the war as ‘immoral’. In 2007, while on leave and between deployments, she went to Canada with her husband and children.
In 2009 Canada ordered her deportation, a decision over which she lost an appeal. An estimated two hundred military personnel resisted the Iraq war by fleeing to Canada.
